How the 747 Killed PanAm
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I heard that what killed Pan Am was that President Johnson(?) did not let them fly domestic routes, when they were pretty much the only US airline to fly international. As other airlines started to fly international, they were allowed to keep their domestic also.
(not sure if that is the whole story but it is kind of how I remember hearing it)
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Good reddit comment thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1db3toi/once_considered_as_the_largest_international/#:~:text=Before deregulation%2C Pan Am was,not allowed have international routes.
But yes.... Congress didn't let PanAm fly domestic. Lobbyists said PanAm would gobble up the routes and be a monopoly...
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In the early 1980s I flew PanAm between Frankfurt and Moscow a few times when the Lufthansa flight was booked solid. I recall the cabin service being perhaps a step or two above Aeroflot, but in the basement in comparison to Lufthansa. Best European airlines I flew were KLM and Finnair. The latter, when possible, was always my first choice.
